Karnal bunt (Tilletia indica) is not easily detected prior to harvest, since it is usual for only a few kernels per spike to be affected by the disease. Karnal bunt is a relatively minor disease. Actual losses in yield are minimal, but the disease is on the quarantine lists of many countries and therefore of importance in world grain trade.

Following harvest, diseased kernels can be easily detected by visual inspection: a mass of black teliospores replaces a portion of the endosperm, and the pericarp may be intact or ruptured. Diseased kernels give off a fetid or fishy odor when crushed. Synthetic hexaploid wheat (xAegilotriticum spp.) is produced through interspecific hybridization of tetraploid Triticum turgidum spp. and diploid Aegilops tauschii, followed by chromosome doubling.